'Transformative' early childhood services at risk with continued government cuts and downsizing, local leaders say

Yahoo

05-04-2025

Editor's note: Federal Fallout is a Tribune-Democrat news series addressing the potential local impact of funding cuts.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Emily Findley watched as her son and daughter played Friday at an open house held by Beginnings Inc. to showcase the variety of services the nonprofit provides to families in Cambria, Somerset and Bedford counties.
Her daughter, Freya Vaught, receives speech, occupational and physical therapies and special instruction through the agency that has helped families in the region for more than 70 years.
'From when she started to now, she has made a drastic jump,' Findley said.
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With proposed government cuts to funding sources such as Medicaid, Beginnings Inc. services that flow through county departments of behavioral health and development may be in jeopardy, officials at the agency said.
Findley said her 2-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism, which qualified her for early intervention. Before that, she didn't talk or eat, and 'just screamed.'
Beginnings open house
Shaunna Bobak (left), Beginnings Inc. speech and language pathologist, and parent Michelle Shaw play with Freya Vaught and Harrison Shaw at an open house event Friday, April 4, 2025.
After Freya Vaught's time with her therapists at Beginnings, the child has made a 'transformative' change, her mother said. Without this free help, Findley said, she doesn't know where her daughter would be developmentally.
'I don't think she would have made the progress she has without these people,' she said.
Michelle Shaw agreed. Her son, Harrison Shaw, has received speech therapy through Beginnings for about a year and was also positively impacted.
'The experience was great,' Michelle Shaw said.
Harrison went from saying a few words to speaking, but after a recent independent evaluation, the 2-year-old did not qualify for further therapy, his mother said.
'We need that Beginnings help,' Michelle Shaw said.
Freya and her brother, R.J. Vaught, and Harrison Shaw were among several children who took part in the open house, which underlined the importance of access to these types of programs, organizers said.
Services showcased
Jessica Phillippi, Beginnings Inc. executive director, said the goal of the event was to invite local legislators in to experience the work her staff does day in and day out.
She said that having local and state representatives see firsthand 'our therapists and providers working with families and babies ... is really better than any statistic.'
'I'm not sure it can get any more powerful or real than having parents who want to come and showcase what early interventions did, not only for their child, but their family as a whole,' Beginnings speech and language pathologist Shaunna Bobak said.
According to the Early Intervention Providers Association, 50% of such programs in Pennsylvania are covered by Medicaid.
That funding stream may soon be impacted by program cuts as budget talks in Congress aim to reduce the federal deficit by $2 trillion over the next 10 years.
More than 48,000 children up to 3 years old in Pennsylvania have relied on early interventions since the 2022-23 school year, and that number is expected to grow to more than 54,000 by the 2025-26 school year, according to the Office of Child Development and Early Learning.
The advocacy group Thriving Pennsylvania said that early interventions in the state are also funded by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, which President Donald Trump has instructed staff to dismantle.
Federal Fallout | The Learning Lamp
Assist Inc. behavioral health technician T.J. Hall reads to Kandri Odum in the three-year-old Pre-Kindergarten room at The Learning Lamp daycare facility on McKinley Avenue in Johnstown on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
Beginnings operates other programs such as Parents as Teachers, community health workers through the Center for Population Health, the Parent and Child Together program and Court-Appointed Special Advocates.
'We are committed to using evidence-based practices, including a state initiative called Family-Guided Routines Based Interventions, or the coaching method,' Bobak said. 'We're able to really help families learn some of these nuances.'
Beginnings serves more than 600 families per year across all programs.
'Ultimately, children with developmental delays or disabilities are at risk of being left behind,' United Way of the Southern Alleghenies President and CEO Karen Struble Myers said.
She advocated for early intervention programs, especially for children who were born prematurely – an early intervention qualifier – and with low birth weights, both of which are associated with low-income communities.
Related to Medicaid, Struble Myers said 25% of the local population relies on that federal program.
'The reality of it is, the people who need the programs the most will suffer the most,' she added.
Other programs facing potential changes through Trump's governmental downsizing efforts include early childhood education and Head Start.
Funding for preschools
Leah Spangler, The Learning Lamp president and CEO, pointed to mass layoffs in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and how that may impact its Administration for Children and Families office.
According to the ACF, the organization 'administers more than 60 programs with a budget of more than $70 billion, making it the second-largest agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.'
That includes child care and pre-school development block grants provided to states.
The preschool funding helps improve children's access to high-quality early care and education and enhance early childhood systems, while the child care grants provide dollars to offer as subsidies to low-income families to afford services.
Spangler said these funds are essential to helping families, not only regionally but across Pennsylvania and beyond, find high-quality care and have the ability to go to work.
Federal Fallout | The Learning Lamp
Jillian Knupp, teacher's aide at The Learning Lamp, reads to Sebastien Eltman in the three-year-old Pre-Kindergarten room at the daycare facility on McKinley Avenue in Johnstown on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
According to The Learning Lamp's 2024 impact report, the agency provided nearly $144,000 in preschool tuition assistance last year and $960,000 in free preschool to students in Cambria, Somerset, Bedford, Blair and Fayette counties.
For the same period, the nonprofit served 37,524 children and adults from 87 school districts and private schools in 36 counties.
The Learning Lamp is also adjusting to recent grant disruptions, Director of Community Outreach Lisa Stofko said.
Since nearly the inception of The Learning Lamp's Children's Book Festival in Johnstown, the group has relied on a National Endowment of the Arts Challenge America grant, which increased access to arts for under-resourced communities, Stofko said. That provided $10,000 for the annual free literacy event that offers children the opportunity to explore reading, meet authors and take part in educational workshops.
The NEA provided no explanation for canceling the Challenge America program, but instructed applicants to instead apply to the Grants for Arts Projects.
Stofko said the festival will have to fill that grant gap another way for 2026, but is hopeful The Learning Lamp can earn other NEA funding in the future.
The Learning Lamp officials said they are also exploring alternatives to the federally funded Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant the nonprofit has relied on for workforce development. As of this week, the application period for this year has not opened, and the future of the program is unclear, Spangler said.
It's not just their programs being disrupted, The Learning Lamp Executive Director Christy Leiato said. She pointed to the five Head Start regional offices across the country, which represent 25 states, that abruptly closed April 1.
The federally funded program promotes school readiness for youngsters from low-income families.
'Head Start serves the most vulnerable families,' said Leiato, who sits on the Pennsylvania Head Start Association Board of Directors. 'These children need support.'
The National Head Start Association said in a statement that the agency is 'deeply concerned' by the closures.
'These offices play a critical role in providing oversight, guidance and direct support to local Head Start programs, ensuring they have the resources and assistance needed to deliver Head Start's high-quality child care, education, health, nutrition and other supports,' the group said.
Karen Struble Myers
Karen Struble Myers
The dismissal of staff in Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle has the potential to disrupt vital services for eligible families, the NHSA said.
These cuts will 'undermine economic growth and exacerbate economic issues,' Struble Myers said. She said she's concerned not just about HHS changes, but also about potential cuts to Medicaid, the order to close the U.S. Department of Education and other proposed adjustments.
'See what the impact is'
The local United Way has an overarching goal of getting children to read on grade level by third grade, Struble Myers said, and partnered with the 1889 Foundation, the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, Lee Initiatives, the Center for Population Health and Vision Together 2025 for an early childhood initiative.
Lauren Lazzari, UWSA early childhood systems coordinator, is responsible for implementing that initiative across Cambria and Somerset counties.
'We're at the point where this news is just coming out, so we're trying to see what the impact is,' Lazzari said.
Lauren Lazzari
Lauren Lazzari
Future programs and partnerships – such as a Talk, Read, Sing initiative – could be impacted by federal funding interruptions, changes and delays as well, she said.
Spangler said her plan moving forward is to rely on the steadfast determination that helped her organization survive the recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
'I'm hoping that taking the same approach to what's happening now will shepherd us through,' she said.